Desperate to boost the ranks of healthcare workers when COVID-19 hospitalizations soared last spring, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy declared the state would tap into an underutilized pool of professionals: foreign doctors.
It would be the first program of its kind in the country.
But a review by WNYC/Gothamist shows the program largely failed to help in the fight against COVID-19. Only 35 immigrant and refugee doctors from around the country received emergency licenses一and some said they never even got to use them.
“I didn’t get any jobs in Jersey, either temporary or part time. None. Zero,” said Halil Erol, a doctor with more than 20 years of experience in Turkey, who now lives in Louisiana.
The state’s Division of Consumer Affairs said about 1,100 people applied but few met the requirements. Some applicants didn’t have the paperwork to prove they graduated from an accepted program or recently worked, officials said. In other cases, the certifying body couldn’t verify if an applicant's license in another country was still in good standing because those licensing offices were closed due to the pandemic or other reasons.
Only foreign doctors who practiced medicine for at least 5 years and had not been out of practice for more than 5 years could apply.
“There were a lot of logistical challenges for that executive order to be implemented. And there was no effort in implementation. It was more saying, ‘Hey, the licenses are available, come apply for them and try to get jobs,’” said Mohamed Khalif, a board trustee for the American Society of Physicians, a new nonprofit that advocates for international doctors.
“You have doctors who've been on the sidelines for a long time and you have this executive order dropped saying that you have this opportunity, but it was a lack of direction and guidance.”
Murphy’s office said the program, as well as others created during the pandemic, were under evaluation.
“While the Temporary Emergency Foreign Physician Licensure Program is currently on hold, we will consider reinstating and implementing improvements that may be needed to this program should the need arise,” Christine Lee, a spokeswoman for the governor, said.
In 2017, New Jersey had about 14,000 immigrants with degrees in all types of health-related fields who are working in lower-paying jobs or are out of work, according to the Migration Policy Institute. Nationally, that number was 263,000.
Immigrants and refugees in New Jersey, who have trained and practiced as doctors in other countries, have to take the three-part U.S. States Medical Licensing Examination, which can be costly, and then redo their residencies, which are often difficult to obtain.
“It's like musical chairs, like everybody at the end of the day will not have a seat to sit,” Khalif said of the barriers for international doctors to secure a residency.
Murphy’s executive order to issue temporary licenses waived those requirements and extended liability protections to those licensed under the program. But Khalif said there were still barriers to getting these doctors hired. Though the executive order also waived the malpractice insurance requirement, Khalif said that made doctors with a temporary license less competitive in the job market if employers were fearful of taking on someone with no malpractice insurance. It was also challenging to figure out how to bill insurance companies.
“Many health plans required each provider to have their own malpractice before they bill for services,” he said.
It’s not clear how many temporary-licensed doctors were able to work. At least four told WNYC/Gothamist they never heard back from the state or potential employers after months of searching and calling. The Department of Health said it did not track who was hired through the program. RWJ Barnabas Health, Hackensack Meridian and Bergen New Bridge, some of the state’s largest hospital networks, said they did not hire anyone from the program.
Lubab Al-Quraishi, a pathologist who worked for 12 years in Iraq and now lives in Parsippany, N.J., said she received a temporary license. Though she couldn’t get a job, she used it to volunteer during the pandemic. She said she spent months administering COVID-19 tests to nursing home residents and people needing emergency surgery.
Al-Quraishi, who was featured in the The New Yorker and The New York Times for her work during COVID, said she even got a call from Murphy who wanted to thank her for her service.
“It was really good because I was doing something meaningful,” she said. “I got the respect, I was recognized, but I mean, this is unfair to be recognized for a while …. It’s just like you were in a dream, a good dream, and then you wake up to face the reality.”
Al-Quraishi, 47, said after her license expired in February, she continued to work as an assistant pathologist, earning a fraction of what a pathologist is paid. She hopes the state passes something more permanent for doctors like her where she can get back in the field and work under another doctor’s supervision instead of waiting to pass a multi-part test only to not get a residency spot.
Jingesh Vakil, 49, also lives in New Jersey and said he wanted to help out his home state. He has more than 16 years of experience working in U.K. emergency rooms and now works as a medical director at a pharmaceutical company.
“If you are creating the system, please make sure somebody is looking into the system,” Vakil said. He said after receiving his license four weeks after he applied, he submitted the days and times he was available to work but never heard back. “Who is giving me a follow up? Somebody should have been accountable. You are giving such a precious thing to someone.”
